Freeborn
by SolitaryHowl
Summary: Life - as told from the perspective of a wolf puppy born in the wild. Join him in his journey of wondrous new discoveries, strange experiences, and the struggle for survival. This is his story. This is the story of them all. [Multi-chaptered story]
1. Chapter 1

Cold. It was so cold.

Something wet was poking me towards the warmth. I didn't fight and gladly embraced the heat. I slept.

I awoke; there was more warmth than before. I struggled to look at my surroundings, but there was nothing to see except darkness. Nothing.

A warm round object entered my mouth and I instinctively suckled. The warm creamy liquid tickled my tongue as I continued to feed. Nourishment. Life.

Tired. Sleep. I needed sleep. I faded away into the realm of dreams.

Jerked awake; something bumped me. Darkness still surrounded me. I searched in the infinite black depths; and found what I searched. The warm round object. I was bumped once more, from the other side, and I found myself competing for the warm teat. I struggled with the motions for a moment and pushed back. But my efforts were futile; I was no match for the forces of darkness. I lost.

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A/N: The short sporadic sentences are intentional. As our little protagonist grows, he will gain a better understanding of the world: the grammar and writing-style shift to accomodate this.

I try to write in the way a wolf would experience things. They operate mostly on instinct, so I try to write like the wolf is acting on instinct all the time. For example, I don't think a wolf would stop and analyze how white/beautiful the snow is when it is freezing to death. It's primary goal would be to survive.

Next chapter will be up in a few days.


	2. Chapter 2

Light. It was different; so surreal in comparison to the darkness I grew so fond of. I peered at the direction of the light, trying to distinguish shapes from shadow. I couldn't.

But I still wanted to get closer to this odd phenomenon.

As if my instinct, I felt my rear rise slowly. I felt the burn in my legs. I collapsed and whimpered slightly.

I saw a shape move towards me. It was warm and I snuggled up against it. Something wet covered my body multiple times before retreating.

I tried to get at the light again. Maybe it wanted to play with me; I would ask it.

I felt myself rise again, this time managing to fully stand. My legs cried out in agony from the effort, but I stumbled towards the light. They gave, and I went tumbling to the ground. I hit my nose and cried out, the pain shooting through my muzzle.

The warm wet object returned, and I felt better. I snuggled up against the warm furry figure I was so fond of and fell asleep.

I awoke.

Something was different. It was quiet.

Something hit me from behind, another figure but this one was smaller than the other one from before. I knew this figure. It smelled like a friend. It moved towards the light, wobbling on its legs. I tried to follow. The figure stopped and fell down. I tripped over it and ended up on top of it.

The friend was warm too.


	3. Chapter 3

I was a hunter. I followed my prey.

I pounced on top of my prey. It escaped. I tried again; the same thing happened. It wouldn't stay still. But I was determined to catch it.

Round and round I spun, yet the prey was too fast. It evaded my teeth.

I stopped. I smelled friend.

A figure appeared from the light world; holding friend in its jaws. I was happy and bounded towards friend. But friend hid behind bigger friend and made a sad sound. I drooped. I was sad now. And Bigger friend went away.

I just wanted to play with friend.

But friend did not want to play.

Bigger friend came from the light world again and approached me. I was happy again; maybe this friend wanted to play.

I was startled when bigger friend picked me up and headed towards the light world.

No! I don't want to! It scares me!

I struggled but bigger friend held tight. It was hopeless. I made a sad sound this time. I went limp.

The light hurt. I shut my eyes.

I was put down and slowly opened them again. I looked around; everything was too bright. New smells, new sights, and more bigger friends.

They came towards me. I tried to go back towards the darkness; towards comfort.

But friend came from behind me and tackled me.

Now friend wanted to play. I looked at bigger friend, but it had went to the other bigger friends.

It was just me and friend.

I was happy.

Oh, I loved to play.

* * *

**AN:**

Please review.

Friend = pup from same litter (littermate)

Bigger friend = adult wolf

Thought it was cute.


	4. Chapter 4

I had to win.

But how to win against an enemy so strong? There had to be a way.

Of course there was. I just had to find it. But it was eluding me.

Friend charged and tackled me to the hard earth. I yelped. I was scared; friend scared me.

It was a game of endurance, speed, and power.

And I was losing that game.

Friend wagged its tail, seeming to be unaware that it scared me.

It wanted to play with me, but this time, I didn't want to play anymore. In the past several moons, friend's playing has become aggressive and mean.

I didn't like mean.

Friend was changing, I was changing. It was all happening too fast; my soft fur was replaced by thick bigger friend fur. I could see, hear, and smell like the bigger friends. I was becoming a bigger friend.

But I didn't like becoming a bigger friend; they never wanted to play or have fun.

Friend approached me again, tail held high, and tried to tackle me to the ground again. My tail shot between my legs as I cowered.

I didn't like this new game.


	5. Chapter 5

I was excited. So very excited.

The bigger friends were taking me and friend away from home. I didn't know where we were going, but I could care less. It was fun!

I clumsily bounded through the lush grass, the tufts of said grass roughly scraping against my legs. Friend was close behind.

We tackled each other, rolling over and over and over. Trying to get on top of each other, trying to win the game.

But we never had a chance to decide who won.

Our fun was cut short by one of the bigger friends – they told us to come back to them with a guttural grunt. I drooped. But obeyed anyways. It was the law to obey.

I ran to Mother and tried to keep pace with her; friend was doing better at _that_ game than I was.

My legs were starting to hurt – we had never gone this far from home. I was getting scared.

But Mother reassured me with a slobbery lick on the head. I instantly felt at ease.

The bigger friends stopped, almost as one unit, and looked all in the same direction. I did too, wondering what all the fuss was about. Did they find anybody that I could play with?

A delicious smell filled my nostrils. Saliva started to form in my mouth. I smelled food. Real food – none of the white creamy liquid I was fed before. The new food still possessed a warm wet texture, but it was chunkier and tasted even more delicious! I was introduced to the New Food a few moons ago.

I think we were looking for more New Food, because the bigger friends could not find anymore at our home. I wondered why that was, but left it up to the bigger friends to figure it out.

After all, I still wanted to play. That butterfly looks fun; I'll ask it to play with me.

So I did. But it went away from me. I chased it. It went away from me again.

All too soon, Mother called me back. It was time to go home.

We would have no New Food tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

I felt weak. I felt tired. I have never felt this way before.

I tried to breathe. It hurt. I stopped short and whimpered with my ears flat against my head.

I took a breath again. It still caused me pain, but I had to breathe to survive. It was the Law to survive.

From the corner of my eye I noticed Friend approaching. It whimpered at me when it saw me, but walked away. Did I make it angry?

I was confused now.

I took another breath – more pain – but I had to endure it. And I would endure it.

Mother came to me and regurgitated New Food for me. I gladly ate all the New Food, being careful to breathe as little and as shallow as possible. It hurt less that way.

Not soon after I ate all the New Food, I felt odd. The food burst out of my mouth and spattered on the ground where I lay.

Bigger friends looked at me. Some whimpered.

I felt sad. Very sad.

Would I ever stop hurting?


End file.
